T-Mobile to trial clawback protection

T-Mobile is considering a trial of a new clawback protection procedure for dealers, Mobile News understands.

Under the trial, planned in the next few weeks, a dealer who either takes a deposit from the customer or provides an address verification service (AVS) and card verification (CV2) check cannot be clawed back.

The AVS/CV2 single-proof procedure sees a customer’s debit or credit card matched to their name and address. A fee of £2 is taken from the card and paid back into their account immediately to prove their identity.

AVS checks the cardholder’s billing address with the card issuer, while CV2 checks the three or four digit code found on the signature strip on the back of the card. A successful result indicates the customer is in possession of the card at the time of transaction.

Instead of doing this check, dealers have the alternative of taking a small deposit from the customer (the exact figure is yet to be announced). This will be paid to T-Mobile, which will then hold it for up to four months before returning it to the customer, providing they have satisfied the conditions of their contract.

Dealers have complained vigorously in recent years that networks have clawed them back commission payments despite providing all the neccessary proofs of identification.

If the trial comes to pass, it represents the first offer to dealers by a network operator of clawback protection.

Border Mobile proprietor Chrissie Mayers said: "At least one of the networks is prepared to play fair with the dealer channel.

"If this goes ahead, the other networks will follow suit – they usually do when something as big as this happens."

Fones U Like proprietor Sohail Ratansi said: "This move could see more independents return to the high street."